Preliminary data from the Federal Statistics Office Destatis reveals an 8.1% year-on-year spike in renewable energy generation during the third quarter of 2023 in Germany, contributing to 60.2% of the total power generated. The increase coincided with a significant surge in electricity imports, rising by 78.6% during the same period, according to Destatis.
In the July to September timeframe, German power plants injected 94.2 billion kWh of electricity into the grid, indicating a 20.3% decrease compared to the third quarter of 2022. Destatis attributes this decline to diminished electricity demand following an economic slowdown in energy-intensive industries, coupled with the heightened reliance on electricity imports.
Wind power generation notably experienced a robust upswing, registering a 16.2% increase and supplying 23 billion kWh. Solar installations also played a substantial role, contributing 20.2 billion kWh and comprising 21.5% of the total output.
Conversely, conventional energy sources witnessed a decline of 42.9%, constituting 39.8% of the overall electricity production.
The import of electricity into Germany soared by 78.6%, reaching 23.1 billion kWh in the third quarter of 2023. Major contributors to this surge included Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, and Switzerland. Simultaneously, German electricity exports experienced a 38.2% decrease, totaling 9.9 billion kWh, resulting in an import surplus of 13.2 billion kWh during the same period.
